“Nothing to be done.” 

The opening line of the play is a motif which will be repeated again and again. It sets the tone of the play, speaking to the hopelessness and the absurdity of Vladimir and Estragon’s situation. The stage direction informs the reader that the line is to be read as though Estragon is “giving up again” (2), suggesting that this dejected failure is only the latest in a long line of repeated incidents. From the opening line, the play informs the audience that these characters are locked into a pattern from which they cannot free themselves.

“Why don’t you help me?”

Estragon and Vladimir are friends, though they often quarrel and disregard each other. In this instance, Vladimir loudly muses on a half remembered quote and is about to launch into a stilted monologue. Slipped in between Vladimir’s lines, however, Estragon makes a desperate plea for help. He is frustrated, confused, and cannot even take his boot off. Though the help he seeks might explicitly be referring to the boot, the subtext suggests a deeper malaise: For all of Vladimir’s pontifications, he can do nothing to help them escape.